FARMWORKER BILL REVIVED FOR GROWERS 1.5 MILLION LABORERS WOULD BE LEGALIZED.Byline: LISA The first personal computer to include integrated software and use a graphical interface. Modeled after the Xerox Star and introduced in 1983 by Apple, it was ahead of its time, but never caught on due to its $10,000 price and slow speed. FRIEDMAN Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- California lawmakers revived legislation Wednesday that would legalize le·gal·ize tr.v. le·gal·ized, le·gal·iz·ing, le·gal·iz·es To make legal or lawful; authorize or sanction by law. le 1.5 million farmworkers, saying the measure stands its best chance in years of becoming law. The ``AgJOBS'' measure would revamp the H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker program that farmers use to hire seasonal hands. It also would create a pilot program in which undocumented farm laborers who have worked in agriculture for the past two years could obtain a ``blue card'' granting them temporary legal status. ``American farmers are on a precipice,'' said Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of the Democratic Party. , who is pushing the measure in the Senate. Feinstein said the bill could mean the difference between success and failure for California's $34 billion agricultural industry and 76,500 farms. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the California Farm Bureau and others, about 1 million undocumented workers harvest Golden State crops each year and make up about 90 percent of farm labor payroll. Last year, Feinstein said, growers reported crews were down about 20 percent. ``Whether they survive to plant another season is determined largely on a simple question: Will there be enough workers to bring in the harvest?'' she said. Reintroduction of the measure -- which was a central element of a broad immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. bill that languished in the House and Senate last year -- touches off the first salvo in this year's immigration war. President George W. Bush has continued to support what he and others call a ``comprehensive'' reform that includes border-control measures and granting citizenship to millions of illegal aliens. Hardliners, meanwhile, have vowed to fight anything they consider ``amnesty.'' Rep. Elton Gallegly Elton W. Gallegly (born March 7 1944), an American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1987, currently representing the 24th District of California (map). , R-Thousand Oaks, for example, said the AgJOBS measure and others like it are simply incentives for illegal immigrants. ``The message we're sending is, `Get here any way you can and once you get here, you're home free,''' he said. Gallegly said he believes a guest-worker plan, particularly for agricultural workers, might be necessary, but said illegal immigration "Illegal alien" and "Illegal aliens" redirect here. For other uses, see Illegal aliens (disambiguation). Illegal immigration refers to immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. must be stamped out before Congress can consider bringing more people to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, originally responsible for crafting the AgJOBS measure in 2003, said he believes the bill is likely to pass in the Democrat-controlled Congress. ``I have more confidence it will pass than in the past,'' he said. lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com (202) 662-8731 |
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